‘Now he’s out of a job, it’s awful’ – ESPN’s Greg McElroy shares thoughts on Tennessee moving on from defensive coordinator Tim Banks
The Tennessee Vols and defensive coordinator Tim Banks parted ways on Monday. Tennessee is now in the hunt for a new defensive coordinator.
The Tennessee Vols made a bold move on Monday by parting ways with defensive coordinator Tim Banks.
A year ago, Banks was one of the hottest coordinator names in college football after guiding the Vols’ defense to a terrific season (Tennessee finished with the No. 7 scoring defense in the nation in 2024).
The Vols, however, weren’t nearly as good on defense in 2025, which led to the decision to move on from Banks.
ESPN’s Greg McElroy shares thoughts on Tennessee moving on from defensive coordinator Tim Banks
ESPN’s Greg McElroy, who shared some great insight on Banks last month, had some thoughts on Tennessee’s defensive coordinator decision during Tuesday’s McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.
“I’m not (surprised),” said McElroy when asked about Tennessee firing Banks. “I’m disappointed for him, because I think he’s a good coach. I think the expectations got a little high for Tennessee’s defense with the style of offense that they play. It’s kind of what it comes down to. And that’s a weird deal, but the style of offense that they play is never going to lend to them being crazy good on defense — unless their personnel is just ridiculous.
“If I’m Josh Heupel, and I’m looking at this entire situation, I’m sitting there thinking alright, hang on a second. So we lost our top two corners going into the year. We’re relying on a true freshman corner on one side (Ty Redmond), who is a massive liability, and a transfer sophomore corner on the other side (Colton Hood) that’s been at three schools in three years. [Tennessee was] probably going to struggle with [their] pass defense. But here’s the thing that I think Josh Heupel also probably acknowledged — he probably watched the defense, and it’s like the defense doesn’t have an identity. And you have to have an identity, and it never felt like they developed one this year. I think Tim Banks is a really good coach. I just think he didn’t know what he had, and he didn’t know how to coach it this year, for whatever reason. He didn’t take dumb pills. We know that. The guy is good coach and has coached great defenses in the past.”
McElroy added that he felt Banks tried to do too much defensively in 2025 and didn’t have a solid identity to fall back on when things went south during a game.
“It was too much, and I think that it’s because they were trying to overcompensate for their lack of legit personnel,” said McElroy. “And that’s a hard thing to do. But hey, it’s just the way it goes, man. Coaching, it’s a tough business. Tim Banks was in the mix for big-time head coaching jobs a year ago, and now he’s out of a job. It’s awful.”
Indeed, Tennessee’s defense wasn’t good enough last season — giving up 45 points at home to Vanderbilt will almost always lead to some change. But at the same time, it’s certainly unfortunate for Banks. He came to Tennessee at a time when the Vols were hearing “no” from most defensive coordinator candidates. And while it wasn’t perfect (it never is in sports), Banks brought five seasons of stability to Tennessee. Believe it or not, Banks was the longest-tenured defensive coordinator Tennessee had since John Chavis spent 14 seasons as the Vols’ defensive coordinator.
Change, though, was needed for the Vols on defense. But change for the sake of change won’t lead to positive results. Heupel has to get this hire right, or he’ll face even bigger questions in the future.
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